


Sherlock, The Wicker Man & The Rashomon Effect

by Tendergingergirl



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: BBC Sherlock - Freeform, Different perspectives, Episode: s04e02 The Lying Detective, Eurus - Freeform, Japanese Films, John Watson - Freeform, Literary Intertext, Meta, The Rashomon Effect, The Wicker Man, culverton smith - Freeform, s4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-02-13
Packaged: 2019-10-26 18:24:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17751122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tendergingergirl/pseuds/Tendergingergirl
Summary: July 24, 2017





	Sherlock, The Wicker Man & The Rashomon Effect

##    
  

Delving into Horror is quite the twisted journey. I admit to the fact that it’s not my favorite genre (I started more the Sci-fi geek. Aldous Huxley, Bradbury, Star Trek) but one thing I have distinguished is that the old-style is fine with me: the suspense, heart-in-the-throat, hinted-at horrors, the mysterious. Usually, a well-written script has almost no need of gore. Reading up on different filming techniques possibly used in S4, and the prodigious use of Horror, I came across one, called the Rashomon Technique. First, a mention of a popular Horror film it was used in, The Wicker Man…a 1973 British mystery horror film written by Anthony Shaffer and directed by Robin Hardy. The film stars Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt, and Christopher Lee. Paul Giovanni composed the soundtrack. The story, inspired by David Pinner’s 1967 novel Ritual, centres on the visit of Police Sergeant Neil Howie to the isolated island of Summerisle, in search of a missing girl. Howie, a devout Christian, is appalled to find that the inhabitants of the island have abandoned Christianity and now practise a form of _Celtic paganism_ _…_ _The Wicker Man is generally well-regarded by critics. Film magazine_[Cinefantastique](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FCinefantastique&t=YTIzZGI5YjNiNzFkNzBjZDUzYjY3N2JkNjZlNDAzMjdmYjE0MjdkMixBS2J4clhqTA%3D%3D&b=t%3A99US-dd59KEFK-T_oX2E5Q&p=https%3A%2F%2Ftendergingergirl.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F163471299631%2Fsherlock-the-wicker-man-the-rashomon-effect&m=1) described it as “The Citizen Kane of horror movies”…

I recently viewed this movie, and it does not disappoint. Truly wicked, and horrifying, with a minimum of gore; an excellent piece of work by the former company, Hammer Films. There is a shot in _The Wicker Man_ , at approx. 1:10, like the one above. ‘The shots directly into the trees/sun are taken directly from Rashômon, especially the ones in which the camera racks focus from the trees to the setting sun behind them. This is used to reference the ‘rashomon’ of **conflicting stories** Howie gets about Rowan’s identity.  

**Is there any other link between _The Wicker Man_ , a story of murder, mystery, and conflicting narratives and BBC Sherlock? Well, besides being mentioned both in History of Horror P.2, hosted by Mark Gatiss, and referenced in The League of Gentleman: Behind The Scenes, there is this…**

**_The Eye of Thoth_** The All-Seeing Eye, a symbol of protection, dating back to early Egypt, later influencing different Pagan sects; also known as the Evil Eye.

**_Ram’s Head_** A known Pagan/Satanic symbol. In studying a correlation between this symbol & violins, I wrote this, last year. [sherlock-denying-the-devil](https://tendergingergirl.tumblr.com/post/153617511041/sherlock-denying-the-devil)

**_Hares_**  [X](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fmysticcamelreviews.com%2Funcategorized%2Fsignificance-and-symbolism-of-hare-rather-than-rabbit%2F&t=ZDI2MDM2NDZlNmFhMWYxZjQ3OTY5Yzc2NWFhYTEyMGNlMmU4Y2Q0OSxBS2J4clhqTA%3D%3D&b=t%3A99US-dd59KEFK-T_oX2E5Q&p=https%3A%2F%2Ftendergingergirl.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F163471299631%2Fsherlock-the-wicker-man-the-rashomon-effect&m=1) From The Wicker Man:  _“We also see a hare later in the film when Howie goes to exhume what he was told is Rowan’s body. When he opens the casket all he finds is a dead hare. When looking at possible explanations and symbolic meanings of hares, I found that there are **some Pagan sects that regard hares as a symbol of foolishness or trickery**. This ties into them fooling Howie on several occasions like getting him to come to the island to search for Rowan, tricking him into thinking they were going to sacrifice Rowan, and having dress as the fool before the sacrifice.” _

**_Lost Hearts_ by MR James**

**This isn’t the only time Pagan symbols have shown up in BBC Sherlock. Religious and Mythological symbols are strongly at play, so it’s just the other side of the same coin; part of the rich history of European religious practices.** **Moriarty’s declaration to ‘burn the heart’ out of Sherlock is a[callback to Lost Hearts by MR James](https://tendergingergirl.tumblr.com/post/154194009526/bbc-ghost-stories-a-british-christmas). The villain is a Pagan that removes children’s hearts to throw into ritual fires. **

The **Rashomon effect** is where the same event is given contradictory interpretations by different individuals involved…named after Akira Kurosawa’s 1950 film _[**Rashomon**](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FRashomon&t=NmRhYjgzMTdjODNlMzg2MTFlYjE0MTA3MDI3ODQwZDQ5MWVkNmRiNSxBS2J4clhqTA%3D%3D&b=t%3A99US-dd59KEFK-T_oX2E5Q&p=https%3A%2F%2Ftendergingergirl.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F163471299631%2Fsherlock-the-wicker-man-the-rashomon-effect&m=1)_ , in which a murder is described in four mutually contradictory ways by its four witnesses. More broadly, the term addresses the motivations, mechanism, and occurrences of the reporting on the circumstance, and so addresses contested interpretations of events, the existence of disagreements regarding the evidence of events, and the subjects of subjectivity versus objectivity in human perception, memory, and reporting [X](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FRashomon_effect&t=M2M4MThjOWM4MjRlOTIwMjUyNDgwOGYyNjg4MDg5MmVkOGJhNDJlOCxBS2J4clhqTA%3D%3D&b=t%3A99US-dd59KEFK-T_oX2E5Q&p=https%3A%2F%2Ftendergingergirl.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F163471299631%2Fsherlock-the-wicker-man-the-rashomon-effect&m=1) 

**Here, in one account given, the wife of an abducted Samurai goes after her would-be attacker with a knife. Did she?**

**In The Six Thatchers, Sherlock wields a knife to defend against Culverton, whom he claims grabbed a knife, from a nearby table. Did he?**

A Rashomon-Style story is where the same event is recounted by several characters, and the stories differ in ways that are impossible to reconcile. It shows that two or more people can view the same event quite differently. The author invites the audience to hear them all out and then compare and contrast these divergent points of view. **Sometimes the work provides no definitive answer as to what actually happened. Basically, it’s a cast full of Unreliable Narrators** (Sounds familiar) Other times, the audience might get the definitive true version of the story at the beginning or end of the episode; and usually both sides will be truthful about some things.

Sherlock knew someone name Faith had been to his flat. That’s it. Faith knew that she hadn’t been to Sherlock’s flat, but she also didn’t know about Eurus. Culverton knew about Eurus impersonating his daughter, according to Eurus, herself, but does that mean he grabbed the knife? John seemed pretty sure that Sherlock was telling the truth, until Faith showed up, so he is somewhere, stuck in the middle. Sherlock may have had a plan, but obviously did not expect the Faith/Eurus variable. Assuming Culverton was working with Eurus, he knew Sherlock would beckon his daughter Faith for a big reveal. 4 witnesses, 4 perspectives. Who to believe? Months later, and we still don’t have all of the answers.


End file.
